JCCC reports mounting Kiev aggression on contact line in Donbass

Donetsk, Dec 17 – DAN. Tensions have been mounting on the contact line between Ukraine and the Donetsk People’s Republic, the DPR Office at the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC) reported on Thursday.

On Wednesday alone, six DPR settlements came under fire; strikes are recorded in all contact line areas, the JCCC said. Ukrainian forces regularly use heavy mortars; they shelled Kominternovo overnight to Thursday while Leninskoye came under heavy mortar fire on Thursday morning (both settlements are located in southern DPR).

“The current situation raises serious concerns; the trend towards escalation holds on and gets stronger every day.  The mounting aggression by Ukrainian armed formations has to be stopped by any methods in order to avoid further consequences: civilian casualties and the destruction of civil infrastructure,” the JCCC said.

The DPR Office emphasized the fact that the Ukrainian army had been actively organising positions in Donbass. Engineer works do not stop; they continue around Donetsk and outside Dzerzhinsk and Gorlovka, and have been most vigorous on the southern stretch of the frontline.

The package of Additional Measures to Strengthen the Ceasefire came into force in Donbass on July 27, 2020. The document bans the use of all weapons, deployment of hardware, special operations, engineer works and unmanned aerial vehicles flights.*jk